Being Needed
by DragonRider1989
Summary: This is a story that happen right after the last episode of Revolution. I don't want to give too much away so please read and let me know what you think.


In the five months that followed the fall of the Patriot invasion force, Charlie, Miles, Rachel, Gene, Aaron, Prescilla and Bass fell into a routine that almost seemed normal. With nothing threatening to end their lives at any given time, the seven of them had set about trying to help the citizens of Willoughby get their lives back. There were days when Bass almost thought he was dreaming, since life seemed almost perfect. Miles had finally forgiven him and at times they seemed to be getting back to the way their friendship had once been. Even Rachel and Gene seemed to trust and respect him to a level. He no longer constantly felt like one wrong move would end him up with a knife in his back or them turning their backs on him once and for all. However, for all the almost perfect of this new world, there was one thing that still pulled at him like a black hole, his son, Conner. There were still nights where he woke from a dream of his son killing him slowly, enjoying it, telling him of all the ways he had failed as a father, how he couldn't even follow through on one promise. In those gruesome moments there would be no love in his eyes for his old man. Every time, Bass would be left to die alone, knowing that the only blood family he had left was the one who in the end had destroyed him and that no one had cared enough to be with him in his last moments. When he woke up, he would always be left with the feeling that no matter how hard he tried to change and fit in here, he never would and eventually everyone would leave him again. It was his greatest fear, but he would try to hide it as he went about the day, feigning a smirk and a swagger when Miles came to get him for their daily patrols.

Strangely enough, in this new world, Miles was the Sheriff of Willoughby and Bass was his faithful deputy. Though things were starting to get back to normal in Willoughy, the world was far from okay and there were still routinely murders, attacks and robberies. There were also strange reports that filtered in every now and then of a town that actually had electricity and people who seemed like they were in a trance, constantly filtering in. Their little group had a guess of what exactly was going on, but didn't really know what to do so despite the fact that Willoughby thought that Miles and Monroe were just their sheriff and deputy they were unaware that when members of their little group disappeared for long stretches of time, they were out scouting Idaho and recruiting allies that they could trust and trying to help pull the nations that spread across what was once North America together because they knew that although the Patriots were wrong in many areas, they were right in one. A house divided against itself cannot stand.  
The day that their almost perfect world started falling apart, started out like any other. Miles and Rachel spent the morning enjoying each other's company and Bass headed out on what had become a weekly routine for him: little expeditions to find Conner. Every week he would search the area again and hope to find some trace of Conner, so far that hadn't happened. This morning, Charlie, noticed him leaving in the morning and followed him, guessing at his purpose. She had become restless in the last several months without a clear objective and not as much excitement as she was used to so helping Bass look for his son, definitely sounded like a better idea than staying home and watching her mom and uncle make eyes at each other.

Charlie and Bass' morning passed uneventfully other than another report that came to town with a refuge that the town in Idaho was on the move. That thought alone sent chills through both of them, though if they were willing to admit it, they also were excited by it since it would mean more action for them soon, both of them didn't quite know how to function in times that were less action filled then a breakneck race towards death, taking as many of the enemy with you as you can.

Morning was turning to afternoon before they turned towards home, intent on letting Miles know of their new intel as soon as possible. Usually they would stay out all day, but today they knew they would need to cut it short as this intel was a game changer.

Miles greeted them as they returned from their search, a little surprised by their early return; though his surprise quickly changed to planning their next move when he learned why they had returned early.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in an impromptu war council between Miles, Rachel, Bass and Charlie as Aaron, Priscilla and Gene were out on a supply run and wouldn't be back till weeks' end. Unfortunately, their war council quickly descended into chaos as Bass fought for attacking them now and taking out as many as possible and Rachel protested stating that they were all innocent people simply being controlled by the nanotech.

"After all," Rachel argued, "Priscilla and Aaron were in the same boat and they had beaten it and if they could, others could. Imagine if it was Aaron, would we kill him just to kill the nanotech? It would just find another host. There's got to be another way. "

"Rachel, there is a very large and very nuclear military installation directly in their path, if they get there with the electricity to power all of those nukes and all of the drones and other artillery, it's game over, no more humans. How do you not get that, they want to wipe the world clean." Bass countered.

"No, they want to preserve the earth and just eliminate humans, they won't use nukes."

"They have before." And on and on they argued until Charlie and Miles had had enough.

"Enough!" Miles practically yelled, "We need more intel before we can decide anything so I'm going on a scouting mission to figure out exactly what we're up against and once that's done then we will have a clearer idea of where to go from there."

"I'm coming with you" the other three said simultaneously.

"No, I've had enough of all this bickering, I'm going on my own and that's that and I'm leaving as soon as I can pack my bags."

The others knew that once Miles made up his mind there was no changing it, so they relented and agreed to his plan.

Rachel, who was having a particularly frustrating day, silently simmered with being shut down in front of her own daughter and in front of Monroe. Even though, she had to grudgingly admit that he was being more trustworthy than usual it still rankled to be shut down like a child in front of him. Granted, he had been to, but that wasn't what Rachel's mind zeroed in on especially since she and Miles had had a fight just that morning about what their future was.

She still had so much anger inside of her and much of it still revolved around Sebastian Monroe. She knew it was only a matter of time until she exploded at him, but what she didn't know was just how soon that moment would be.

Sebastian was also angry and looking for support for his position, but unfortunately, he looked in just the right place to set Rachel off.

"You know I'm right, right kid?" He asked Charlotte.

"Bass, you need to let this go, a decision has already been made and for the record I'm with Miles on this."

For some reason Bass going to her daughter or support was the last straw and she lost the meager control that she had maintained.

"Don't you get it, Bass, you'll never fit in here, you're always going from one person to another trying to get them to make you feel better about yourself and your homicidal tendencies and for some reason that I still haven't figured out, you still don't understand that no one here agrees with you and you'll never be one of us. We're trying to be the good guys and that's one thing you'll never be able to be and so sooner or later everyone will see through your little facade of being like us and give up on you ever becoming a good guy and you'll be all alone again without even your kid next to you because you couldn't even fit in with him." With that Rachel turned away and stomped upstairs. Charlie caught Bass' eyes guiltily before following her mom upstairs knowing that there was more bothering her than she was letting on.

Fighting to keep his composure and trying not to let either of them see how deeply that had cut him and how many fears that flared to life, he angrily yelled upstairs that he was leaving for awhile and was going to go see if Miles needed help, he'd be back later. Silence followed his angry retort and so he turned away and grabbed a few supplies and left.

Twilight filled the trees with a gloomy air that seemed to mock the tears that, despite his efforts to keep at bay, still continued to fall. Soon, he gave up even trying to keep them in, since no one was around anyway and so no one would see his moment of weakness. The longer he walked, the more he determined he became that he shouldn't go back. It would be easier for everyone, if he just left. They didn't need him anymore. With these melancholy thoughts dominating his mind, he walked on. It took him the better part of a day to track Miles down, but when he did he was shocked to hear a voice he hadn't heard in a very long time, a voice he'd know anywhere. Conner. That voice made a break in his dark thoughts and he picked up his pace only to pull up short, when he heard what his son was saying.

"So," Conner sneered, "I've figured out how to get what I want."

"What's that?" Miles asked

"You know what I want, the Monroe Republic at my fingertips and my father by my side handing me the keys to a continent."

"And what is this great revelation you've come to?"

"Well you see, I was talking with Neville and he told me about your past with my dad, how you're his greatest weakness, he will follow you 10 times out of 10 no matter the stakes even when those stakes are his only son. So all I have to do is get rid of you and then step in to take the place that you had at my dad's side, my rightful place."

"I never asked Bass to follow me, that was his decision"

For some reason that statement cut Bass deeply, he knew that it probably didn't mean that Miles didn't want him to follow him, and had just put up with it because he had, but after everything that had happened today, he couldn't break away from that thought.

"If it weren't for you, my dad would be a great man, not your second in command and I would be by his side. So now I'm going to take care of that little problem."

Bass heard the gun cock and every other part of his brain shut down except the part that screamed at him to save Miles, his best friend, his brother, he couldn't let him die. Just as Conner pulled the trigger Bass crashed through the undergrowth nearby and dove in front of him, feeling the impact of the bullet throw him back into Miles. The last thing he heard was his son running off into the forest before darkness claimed him, his last thought, was about the nightmares he'd had and how they had become reality and then he lost his grip on consciousness.

Miles couldn't believe that he'd been surprised by Bass' little punk who always seemed to think he was tougher than he was, but then he guessed even the best slipped up sometimes. As Conner told him about why he'd hunted him down and waited for a time when he was far enough away from his friends that they wouldn't be able to rescue him, a dread settled in his gut. So, this was really the end, after all the wars he'd survived and the brushes with death, he was going to be taken out by a punk kid with a rifle, his best friend's punk kid at that. However, just as the gun was cocked and the trigger pulled and he had resigned himself to his fate, a shape flew out of the bushes in front of him and the bullet that should have killed him buried itself in the shape as it flew backwards and knocked Miles off his feet. Miles didn't have time to see what had miraculously saved his life though as he locked eyes with Conner and calculated how he could escape. However, the expression he saw there wasn't what he expected. Naked horror filled Connor's eyes as he softly whispered, "Dad?" In that moment as he started to take a step forward, he wasn't the hate filled, cold man who had just been about to kill Miles, he was a horrified kid, who thought he'd just killed his dad. However, just as quickly as that expression flickered across his face, it was gone, replaced with a cold mask. He knew that Miles could kill him in two seconds flat and so in that moment he hardened his heart and turned away, blaming his dad's death on Miles rather than himself as he just couldn't let himself take the blame.

All of this happened in a couple seconds time and in those seconds, Miles came to a sickening revelation, it wasn't a miracle that he hadn't been killed it was his best friend throwing his own body in front of a bullet meant for Miles. As Conner ran away into the underbrush, Miles didn't even make an effort to follow, instead he looked down at the weight that had pinned him and sucked in his breath.

"Bass" the pained whisper escaped before he even realized he was saying it and tears began to fill his eyes. He surveyed the scene before him, blood pooled in the pine needles on the forest floor, so much blood and then there was Bass's face already losing color, eyes closed against a cruel world. In that moment, Miles felt a rage that he hadn't felt in a long time, a rage at the world, at how unfair the world could be. His friend had been through so much, much of it at Miles' own hand and yet had pulled himself back up and was actually on the way to becoming the man who had been closer to him than any person alive all of their growing up years and now to be killed by his own son, the only family he had left? Where was the justice in that? _No!_ he mentally shook himself, _I don't even know if he's dead yet, why haven't I checked._ And then it registered he was shell shocked, but he needed to snap out of it now. Pulling together some of his composure, he went into field medic mode. First he gently extradited himself from under Bass, next he rolled him onto his back so he could get a better look and checked his pulse. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when he felt a faint pulse thrum beneath his fingers. However, his relief was short lived as he looked at the mess that was his best friend's chest. At least there was only one wound, but he had to get the bleeding stopped now. Quickly he ripped off his shirt and pushed it into his friend's wounds and though he didn't generally consider himself a religious man he found himself begging God not to let his brother die. He didn't know if he could stand that, when he'd only just got him back and when he was trying so hard to be better than he'd been.

"Bass, listen to me, hold on, please brother, I can't lose you. You hear me? Hold on!" He knew Bass couldn't hear him, but he kept talking anyway, sometimes pleading, sometimes begging Bass not to give up. As tear dropped onto Bass' jacket and he continued begging him to stay in the land of the living, there was a moment when he actually laughed thinking about what people would think of the great General Miles Matheson, begging someone to listen to him, especially a man he'd tried to kill many times and who had returned the favor. The irony of it wasn't lost on Miles, but his short burst of amusement, died when he checked Bass' pulse for the umpteenth time and realized that there wasn't one anymore.

"Bass?" Miles asked, some broken part of him almost expecting Bass to answer him; when he didn't answer and his heart stubbornly refused to beat Miles started CPR. Finally, after several moments that seemed like an eternity Bass' heart started up again, sluggishly, but at least it was pumping blood. Miles knew he couldn't move Bass and so he set about securing their location as best as he could, that done, he sat Bass up against a tree and sat down next to him allowing his head to loll on his shoulder, hoping that this would help Bass keep breathing. He fell asleep hoping against hope that Bass would make it till morning.

The rays of the early morning sun, had just began to stream through the trees when Miles woke with a start as he felt something moving against him. He almost jumped up with his sword ready to defend he and Bass, until he realized that it was Bass who had moved.

"Bass? You back with me?"

"Mil..?" Bass slurred, "where? What happened?"

"You don't remember? You jumped in front of a bullet for me like an idiot. You know I never asked you to risk your life for me." Miles knew that last part came out harsher than he meant it to, but now that his worry had gone down a little, his anger at the whole situation re-asserted itself. He knew he wasn't angry at Bass, but at the moment he was just the easiest thing to snap at. His guilt at snapping at Bass only increased when he muttered,

"I know you don't want me to do anything for you, follow you, take a bullet for you… Nobody wants me…" before passing out again.  
Miles felt Bass' words dig into his heart and had to fight again to keep his composure, why was he always screwing things up with Bass. As he set there cradling Bass' head in his lap and watching the fight that had been there disappearing his desperation grew and he began talking to Bass again, but this time not begging or pleading, but doing something he should have done a long time ago, apologize.

"You know Bass, I remember when you were a sweet wide eyed innocent kid who would only get in trouble because I would and no matter what I did you'd be right there with me doing it too. I remember the first time you betrayed that trust, sleeping with my girlfriend, but I also remember why it hurt so bad when I figured it out, because I cared so much about you, you were my brother and I couldn't quite figure why you'd do that to me. You know what's funny though Bass, if I'm honest in all the years we've been friends I've betrayed you a lot more times than you ever betrayed me. I made you into a monster and then when I realized what I'd done, I couldn't face it, so I tried to kill you, but I couldn't so I ran. You know, it sounds funny now, but you always used to be the voice of reason. Do you remember when I suggested we hit that camp and you told me we shouldn't steal from a camp that needs food so much, or the time you told me I couldn't just shoot someone because they committed a crime? You were and are a good man, I want you to know that, I stole some of that goodness from you, and let's be truthful you gave some of it away, but it's still there Bass, you're still my closest friend, my brother and I just wanted to make sure I have a chance to tell you just how damn sorry I am for everything, so please wake up, don't leave me. I want you to be part of my life and I'm thankful for your loyalty even though I don't deserve it and I love you, like a brother, you gotta know that, I can't imagine the future without my best bud right there next to me, where you belong and where I need you. I need you so damn bad Bass. You were once the best part of me before I screwed you up and before you made some bad decisions and I want you to be that again."

It's often been said that people in comas can hear when people talk to them and over the next several hours, Miles began to believe those old stories, because it seemed like that long overdue conversation he'd had with Bass had made a difference. He had been fading fast and Miles was sure he would lose his best friend before evening even came, but after that talk a little color had started to come back into Bass' face and by the next morning he actually began to regain consciousness.

When Bass finally fully regained consciousness, he was surprised to discover that his head was cradled in Miles lap and his arms surrounded him protectively. He also didn't miss the tear tracks in the grime that covered Miles face, though he had to look a couple times before he allowed himself to believe that they were really tear tracks that Miles would actually shed a tear at the thought of losing Bass shocked him, but also gave him hope and the drive to hold on and keep trying to be that good guy that Miles had reminded him he used to be while he was in his coma.

Bass' gaze woke Miles and he actually smiled when he saw Bass was awake before becoming serious.

"Bass I need to say something," Miles started.

"No you don't, I heard everything you said while I was passed out, I don't know how, but I did. Thank you. I never thought I'd hear half that conversation from you, I didn't even dare to hope that I would, so I just wanted to say thanks."

Miles turned a bit red and stuttered,

"You heard what I said?"

"Yep it was definitely a chick flick moment."

This earned him a punch in the arm, but an easy camaraderie settled around the two old friends.

"Bass, I'm glad you heard me, but I need to say this to you when I know you're awake, I am so damn sorry. I've screwed up so many times and I was the one that took a good man and turned him into a killer, that's on me and then worse yet, I turned my back on you after trying to kill you. I don't deserve your friendship…"

"Well I guess we're even then, cause I don't deserve yours; the man I became he didn't deserve any friends and deserved a lot worse than what he got, I just hope I can become a little better man and find some of that good in myself again, maybe make up for a few mistakes. Thanks for not leaving me."

"You're my brother, I will not leave you again."

Over the next couple days as Bass regained enough strength to get home, something changed in each of them. It was like a weight was lifted off of both their hearts and they both could actually hope for a better world and a better them. Years of bitterness, distrust, hatred and anger drained out of them and in some ways as they finally made their way back to the farmhouse they were sharing with the other members of their little family, they felt like new men, men who'd been given a second chance.

The trip back to the farmhouse was a long walk, but for Bass it seemed like an walk that never ended, his body hardly had the strength to put one foot in front of the other by the time they got within sight of the farmhouse, but he and Miles both knew they'd stayed in the wild too long and much longer would be tempting fate. The farmhouse would be safer. As they climbed the steps to the farmhouse, Bass' legs finally gave out and he went down hard, surprising Miles and pulling the makeshift stitches that Miles had put it. His yell of pain brought Charlie and Rachel running. As they each took in Bass' blood-drenched shirt they rushed forward to help Miles as Bass lost consciousness.

When Bass woke up again, he was surprised to find Rachel, sitting by his bedside leaned against the wall sleeping. Why would she be here? Why would she care if he lived or died?

"Rachel" this startled her awake and Bass was shocked again when a tentative smile crossed her face, followed by a look of guilt.

"Bass," Rachel started, "you're awake. I'm going to go get Miles, but before I do I have something to say to you."

Bass cringed expecting a sharp tirade that he wasn't sure he could handle at the moment, but today was a day of surprises.

"I'm sorry"

Bass couldn't help but blurt out,

"Come again"

Rachel smiled patiently,

"I'm sorry Bass," she paused here allowing him a chance to absorb her words, "what I said to you before you left, I was wrong, you do fit here. I was just angry because Miles and I had fought that morning and now you were challenging my views and trying to convince Miles to side with you, but I want you to know I regretted what I said almost as soon as I said it. I was just too angry to admit it, but when you showed up bleeding out on the front porch… well, I just wanted a chance to say I'm sorry. You are changing despite everything I expected you've continued to prove me wrong and I'm really happy you are and I'm glad you're here. There's a lot of people who need you here."

Bass couldn't decide what he was more shocked about, Rachel apologizing, or saying that he was actually needed here, but he didn't care. A genuine smile lit his face and then as his eyes teared a little, he whispered,

"Thank you Rachel."


End file.
